Australia entered WW2 because it still had strong ties with Britain, as it was regarded as a British Nation. Because Britain entered the war, and due to our alliance with them, we were bound by a treaty to enter it as well. When the British Government declared war, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that Australia was also at war. He declared this in his monumental speech via radio to the Australian population in 1939: "Fellow Australians, It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that in consequence of a persistence by Germany and her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia is also at war.ÃÂ The Australian publicÃÂs response to the announcement came as a shock to few, considering that the increased tension in Europe had been in the newspapers for quite some time. It was expected of the Australian population to show the same enthusiasm as they had shown with WWI, and those who had declared that Australians were eager to take part in the war were surprised at the lack of zeal as shown in the previous war, twenty-five years earlier.
Australian and Dutch prisoners of war at Tarsau in...
U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of Allie...
English: A GERMAN POSSESSION ADDED TO THE BRITISH ...The long lines of men, eager to fight for their country were non-existent. A common thought was going through everyoneÃÂs heads: that more young people were about to die. Since there was a lack of volunteers for the AIF, Menzies introduced conscription.
Between September 1939 and April 1940, there were no further attacks made by the German army. This period was known as the phoney war. Britain and its allies prepared themselves in case Germany made further moves. In this period neither Britain nor its allies made any attacks on Germany. Troops in the Second AIF were sent to Egypt to train for battle. After Germany...